DAMU

THE
MESOPOTAMIAN DIVINE CHILD

For
JMVL, best brother and knight, with all my love

Damu is a Sumerian god,
documented since the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He had a cult in Isin,
where he was called the son of the local tutelary goddess, Ninisina. Thorkild
Jacobsen in his masterwork on Mesopotamian Religion called "The
Treasures of Darkness" (Yale University Press, New Haven, London,
1976) says that Damu is also considered the son of Urash, another name for Ninhursag-Ki,
the Great Mother Earth, and Enki, god of Wisdom, Magick and the sweet fertilizing
waters of the deep, the Abzu, as well as a younger, child-like version of Dumuzi/Tammuz,
the archetypal Lover and Divine Bridegroom of Mesopotamia. As such, Damu is
very much a healing deity, bringer of abundance and vitality. Jacobsen also
states that He seems to represent the power in the raising sap, so vital for
the orchard growers of the lower Euphrates. The prominent figures in the cycle
of Damu as the Mesopotamian Divine Child are also present in the cycle of Dumuzi,
namely his mother and sister(s), who mourn Damu´s loss to the Underworld and
rejoice at his triumphant return to the Worlds Above.

Not much has reached us
to allow for the reconstruction of Damu´s first years. We don´t know whether
He had a miraculous birth, as it is normally the case for Divine Children in
myth and religion. Because we meet Damu namely through the hymns where his mother
and sister(s) search for him and learn that "He is lost to the Underworld",
his cycle may very well be related to the renewal of the land in its full vitality
and splendor, especially the fruits of orchards and trees such as the date palm
and the tamarisk, and about family ties that endure the hardest trials not to
be broken by outer circumstances.

This may be very well the
inner meaning of a myth whose plot as told by Jacobsen goes as follows: Damu´s
older and younger sisters find him in a boat ready to sail down to the Land
of No Return. The sisters call to him, one standing at the prow and the other
at the stern of the boat, and ask to be taken aboard. At first Damu does not
answer, but when the deputy of the Underworld tells him to, Damu tries to dissuade
his sisters by argumenting that he is going as a prisoner, and comparing himself
to a tree, a tamarisk or date palm being destroyed before its time. The sisters,
however, insist, offering their ornaments and jewelry as ransom. The sisters
are then allowed to join their brother, and the journey to the Underworld proceeds.
Eventually, the boat arrives in the Netherworld, where, unexpectedly, it is
halted by a son of Ereshkigal, probably Ninazu (says Jacobsen, but Ninazu is
the third son of Enlil and Ninlil according to the myth of Enlil and Ninlil:
kinship to Ereshkigal might be symbolic, as Inanna says that She is Ereshkigal´s
sister, and in a way She is, although not in a direct line). Ereshkigal´s son
orders Damu to be released, and Damu, with tears of gratitude, bathes his head,
puts on shoes and sits down to a tasty meal, becoming a guest and official to
the Land of No Return, no more a captive.

This myth shows another
sucess Descent and Ascent story, and the key to understand its depth is the
surrender of the self to the Higher Designs of the Land of No Return, which
will always give back what it is given with integrity and balance restored.

A sacred cedar tree growing
in the compound of the Eanna, the main temple of Inanna and Anu in Uruk, may
represent the god as sap lying dormant in the rushes and trees during the dry
season but reviving, for the profound joy of the people, orchardsmen in special,
with the river´s rise (the Euphrates in special)

Damu´s gifts are renewal,
boundless energy, trust in the self and in what the future may bring, undying
hope to face the hardest trials. And perhaps Damu´s challenge is patience to
ground the wisdom of the stars we are all born with so that it can manifest
in all planes.